Deerington Application

[baisant]

IN CHARACTER

Character Name: Jean-Claude
Canon: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter
Canon Point: A few weeks after he lost the bid for Night Council President

In-Game Tattoo Placement: two black antlers framing each side of his chest scar like the cross is now sprouting them dramatic who? jean-claude? never
Current Health/Status: Technically, deceased but physically fit as a fiddle
Age: Going on 630, physically 30 as that was when he was turned
Species: Vampire

Content Warnings: Vampirism, murder, death, childbirth, stillbirth, rape of an adult, torture, physical abuse of an adult, sexual abuse of an adult, physical abuse of a minor, sexual content, blood.

History: Jean-Claude's history is parallel to his canon history, but adapted to fit the AU setting of undergrounds. The adapted history is as follows:

Jean-Claude was born, as he describes it, on the dirt floor of a very poor family in France. He is very beautiful even as a child, and is chosen as the whipping boy for the only son of an aristocratic family in the area who happens to be the same age as Jean-Claude himself. He is raised with the boy and the family treats them very much the same despite Jean-Claude's origins. He is given everything the son is, and receives the same tutors and education as the boy. When the boy misbehaves however, Jean-Claude is the one who is punished with the strap. Even as a vampire, he still bears these marks from his human childhood and past, centuries ago. Jean-Claude grows up and eventually does marry, though his wife dies in childbirth along with their unborn child.

When Jean-Claude is just a little over thirty, he is killed and raised again by a vampire named Belle Morte, who is old and powerful even then. There in her nest, Jean-Claude meets another vampire named Asher, who -- despite some initial reluctance regarding Jean-Claude -- quickly forms a tight bond with him, and the pair of them fast become friends and then lovers. (In fact, the three of them form something of a menage-a-trois with Asher's human lover, Julianna.)

Jean-Claude and Asher eventually end up leaving the nest for Julianna's safety, as Belle grows increasingly more jealous of their affections for her. Belle believes that she is the most desirable woman in all the world and the fact that they should want another more than her, and a human at that, is more than she can stand. The three of them travel together across Europe for nearly twenty years and live a very happy life, until Jean-Claude hears news that his mother is dying and leaves their trio to attend her funeral. While Jean-Claude is away, Julianna and Asher are captured by a local mob on suspicion of witchcraft. Julianna is burnt at the stake and Asher is kept to be tortured. When Jean-Claude realizes what has happened, he appeals to Belle Morte for aid. Belle agrees to save Asher, but in return Jean-Claude must agree to one hundred years in her service, however she desires. Out of love for Asher, Jean-Claude accepts.

Travelling with Belle to save Asher, Jean-Claude is nearly killed himself for his efforts -- he is badly burned with a silver cross, the wound so terrible it formed a scar even as a vampire. Asher is horribly scarred himself as a result of their torture, but Jean-Claude manages to rescue him in time to save him, and thus Jean-Claude's next one hundred years are Belle's. At first he is imprisoned in a coffin lined with silver so that he cannot escape and left to starve for several years. When he is let free from there, Belle uses him in whatever ways she can. As her lover, as a lover for whoever she desires. For the desires of those around her, and it need not matter whether those run towards pleasure or pain. She gives him to people she knows will repulse him, people who will frighten him, people who will enjoy his fear and his pain and take pleasure in the knowledge that he is helpless and entirely at their mercy. Belle Morte is his creator after all and whatever she commands him to do, he must obey. He is known in Paris and in fact in most of the underground of France itself as Belle's pet vampire, gaining himself a reputation as little more than a pretty sexual plaything. All of the punishment in retaliation for leaving her and for desiring Asher and Julianna more than her.

After his century of servitude are up, Jean-Claude leaves Belle's nest, and since their agreement is done, she lets him. He moves on from France to London, attempting to escape his reputation on the continent, and establishes himself in trade and business there, building himself a sturdy and practical foundation to stand upon. By the simple fact that he is as old as he is, he is given status in his new area, but because of his lowly reputation they assign him the least favorable area they can think of -- Poplar, a borough ravaged by poverty and war. But Jean-Claude makes the most of it as he always does and rises from the ashes to establish himself. Going on to aid those vampires who have seen the less favorable side of being a vampire in turn. (A weakness, in the eyes of the Old Ones.) Sometime within the last few decades he has established in the city his flagship business, a strip club by the name of Guilty Pleasures.

CRAU History and Impact: In May 2016 the Duchess of London Central, Millicent, is spiraling out of control. She's proving to the rest of the city that she will do whatever it takes to recruit new blood into the nest, including sacrificing lesser vampires to the mercy of other factions if that is what it takes. She seeks to use Islington's immunity from hunting thanks to her position on the Night Council to its full advantage, and the rest of the city has had enough. The East End Pack bands together and winds up assassinating her, which creates a vacuum in the nest, leaving an opening at the top for Raymond Harris to step in. Who is, if possible, even worse. A bloodthirsty, violent, middle-aged vampire, Raymond outwardly seeks to help Islington gain territories while privately seeking to cause as much chaos as possible through letting the vampires of the nest run wild.

Up until Raymond's rise to power, Jean-Claude has coasted along in the background. He sees how dangerous he is though, and as such he recognizes he needs to gain his favor and pull himself out of the shadows. Jean-Claude quickly gains Islington a territory and rises in the ranks, but it is not enough. The city is rising against Islington, and the vampires are all uneasy about how free Raymond is with open bloodshed in return. Older vampires like Jean-Claude himself know how this ends. They begin to turn to Jean-Claude for answers, and Jean-Claude forms a plan to get rid of Raymond. There cannot be another vacuum at the top. The vampires need a new leader, and he will step up if he has to. Rising together with several other factions in the city, Jean-Claude assassinates Raymond at the other vampire's Samhain party and rises to Duke of Central London himself.

Jean-Claude has a lot of power at his back, though it is not enough to win him a seat on the Night Council. It is a temporary setback, but certainly a blow to his ego after so much success, and this is about where his undergrounds history ends.

The impact of the development in-game is of course that Jean-Claude steps up into a position of power and responsibility in such a way that he had never been before. People look to him for aid, for answers, and in his own way Jean-Claude finds a way to provide for them. It’s a huge development for him, to come from Belle Morte’s plaything to becoming Duke of Central London, essentially the most powerful Duke in all of Britain. It does not necessarily change him, but in their turning to Jean-Claude it helps him realize the potential that he always had to achieve more than he had allowed himself to do in centuries. He will never again be content to let himself be Jean-Claude the pet.

Personality: Jean-Claude is a complicated person. To those who do not know him well he is perhaps even mysterious. This is largely due to the fact that he has spent centuries in the company of vampires who would have used his true emotions against him. He has learned how to hide what he truly feels about any given situation behind a mask of pleasant indifference that may or may not come off as typical French haughtiness.

Part of that mask is also flirtation. He is gorgeous and he knows it, and he uses that to his advantage. He was chosen to be a vampire because of his good looks, and he was chosen to be the nobleman's whipping boy because of how attractive he was as a boy. He is not necessarily the most powerful vampire, nor the biggest or strongest. But he knows that his looks are an asset, and so in most given situations he defaults to falling back on that. Even in the darkest of times for him, his desirability was one of the only things he had left. He has learned therefore to use it as a weapon. Seducing his way past people's defenses. Out of necessity he has come to enjoy such things as well, although not all flirtation that Jean-Claude offers is meant from the heart.

He likes to keep his cards close to his chest and does not want to reveal any more information about himself than necessary. He keeps a tight control on everything he says and does. Jean-Claude is the epitome of cool, calm control. Born from his white-knuckled clinging to what little hope and dignity he had left, as the years went by. Knowing that if he let anything slip it would be used against him, for better or worse. It is moments when he lets the mask slip that he is at his most beautiful or terrifying, depending on the situation. For the rest of the time, everything is carefully chosen and calculated and this too might be frustrating to someone who would rather a straightforward answer. He knows how to play the game of words and sometimes enjoys toying with someone who is not as good at it, like a cat with a mouse.

That is not to say that there is not a softer side to Jean-Claude. In some of the other vampires' eyes perhaps he is too soft, too sentimental. The common stereotyping of treating humans like food does not apply to him. He does believe himself to be on a higher level than humans, with his superhuman strength and abilities, but they are more than something to be drained and dumped. He could perhaps be described as a gourmand -- he likes to enjoy himself. He loves to enjoy what he eats, and since that is humans, he treats them well. He does not delight in frightening humans, as some other vampires do, although he does not feel guilty if he is frightening either. Fear is smart, and intelligence pleases him. Jean-Claude is known to be a great deal more friendly with the wolves than the regular vampire as well, and has no real prejudices against any of the other groups either. All of his food is given through donations, most of it willingly, and in their eyes more than likely he is the perfect gentleman vampire.

He can be cruel, however. Just because he is kind does not mean that he is not a vampire. It has been over six centuries since he thought like a human. He tries not to let this cruelty show to others if he can help, but he has played the game of politics for so long even his friendships are a calculated game of give and take. He is not afraid to use his friends as pawns when it suits him, although he will be more protective of them over all others in the end. Jean-Claude is a survivor though. He is practical, pragmatic, and he is not afraid to do what he must in order to ensure his own safety, followed by the safety of those who are "his". Most of the time his own survival comes first, although there is usually reasoning for this, for if his safety is not ensured, how can he be of use to anyone else?

When he makes friends, he has a tendency to hold himself apart from them, having learned from what happened with Asher and Julianna that anyone he shows a fondness for will in turn become a target for his enemies. Only those who have proven themselves to be capable enough of defending themselves against threats are the ones who get to see more of the real Jean-Claude, for better or worse.

Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping:

Strengths
• Super strength, enhanced agility and fast reflexes, which varies depending on the above factors.
• Enhanced senses. Can see in the dark, has more sensitive hearing, and can smell blood at a distance.
• Can extend and retract fangs at will.
• Can recognize all supernatural types.
• Can resist mind control, except by their sire.
• Can resist low level witch and fae magic.
• Can communicate telepathically with other members of their nest.
• Can manipulate humans using a form of mind control. Commands can be given through the hypnotic power of the vampire's voice alone (i.e. it would work over the phone), but maintaining eye contact and physical contact produce the best results.
• Can hypnotize entire groups of humans at once without needing to ingest their blood.
• Can manipulate other supernatural beings with inferior magical power, if he has ingested their blood. For those with the same or slightly higher level of power, mind control is a struggle and may partly work but later be overcome e.g. attempting to compel witches.
• Can mind control lower-ranking vampires without needing to ingest their blood.
• Can control the minds of animals, including shapeshifters in animal form but not including werewolves, without needing to ingest their blood.
• Can add, remove, or alter a person's memories through mind control.
• Can enter a person's memories, either with permission or by force. (Requires physical contact.)
• Can influence a person's dreams through mind control.
• Can alter a person's perception through mind control e.g. make them perceive him as a loved one, or distract them with an illusory trick.
• Can mentally connect with a person they have shared blood with (i.e. both drink each other's blood), to show them visions, memories or communicate telepathically. This works with all species except ghosts.
• His blood can heal any injuries, if ingested by others.
• Can heal quickly from all injuries, except those inflicted by wood.
• Can tell when someone is lying.
• Can sense emotions.
• Can turn humans, meta humans, shapeshifters and witches into vampires.
• Can control the body of his progeny, moving them like puppets.

Weaknesses:
• May lose control in the presence of fresh human blood.
• Cannot enter a household unless explicitly invited in by someone who lives there. Invitations can later be rescinded, forcing him to leave.
• Cannot influence anyone wearing a protective amulet. (These are specifically created to protect against vampires.)
• Cannot go out in the sun. Sunlight burns and will kill him in seconds.
• Wood-inflicted injuries can cripple him and will not heal until the wood is removed.
• Vulnerable to silver. It burns them and even its presence is a deterrent.
• Can be killed by sunlight, fire, a werewolf bite, beheading and a wooden stake through the heart.
• Cannot function without blood. Blood loss will weaken him. Starvation or being completely drained of blood will turn him into a corpse-like husk, unable to move or speak.

Warping: I tried to italicise all of the mind-control and healing related abilities but in general everything related to mind-control will come back at him in the game setting. His dream-walking abilities however -- I’d like for him to be able to still do this, the experience of their dreams being more lucid than normal, but also feeling like he is being watched. Similarly, Jean-Claude usually is able to enter a person’s memory. I’m not quite sure where this falls on the scale of mind control since he would not be able to manipulate anything he finds there. For now I am saying this is still possible because of that. His ability to heal others with his blood will unfortunately be a disaster and only make their condition worse -- up to player discretion should this happen in game.

I am definitely up for warping JC’s powers more than this if necessary!


Inventory:
• His daylight ring, which allows him to be out in the sun and attempt to pass for more of a human.
• A stack of business cards for Guilty Pleasures, his club/bar.
• The outfit he arrives in: lace-cuffed/ruffled 18th century shirt, leather pants, thigh-high boots.
• A portrait of himself, Asher, and Julianna.
• His cellphone (yes, he is a vampire that uses a cellphone).

Writing Samples: TDM thread & an older thread

OUT OF CHARACTER

Player Name: Teresa
Player Age: 31
Player Contact: lycanthropy101

Other Characters In Game: n/a
In-Game Tag If Accepted: Jean-Claude: Teresa
Permissions for Character: Here are his permissions which are specific to undergrounds, though I will of course update this should he be accepted!
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: Yes, I am!
What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: I definitely enjoy an unreliable narrator/perspective, cosmic/eldritch horror, and also the fear/dread of the inevitable.
Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: Nope!
Additional Information:

Comments

Power Revisions

[baisant]

Strengths (note: any abilities that would involve another character will involve the permission of the other player)
• Super strength, enhanced agility and fast reflexes.
• Enhanced senses. Can see in the dark, has more sensitive hearing, and can smell blood at a distance.
• Can extend and retract fangs at will.
• Can recognize all supernatural types. Warp: Can sense another character is supernatural, but his sense of which type is no longer reliable.
• Can resist mind control, except by their sire. Warp: Resistant to most mind control attempts.
• Can resist low level witch and fae magic. Warped: Can resist most low level magic attempts made on his person.
• Can communicate telepathically with other members of their nest. Warped: Any attempts to speak mind-to-mind with members of the nest will be broadcast to all others in a 20ft space.
• Can manipulate humans using a form of mind control. Commands can be given through the hypnotic power of the vampire's voice alone (i.e. it would work over the phone), but maintaining eye contact and physical contact produce the best results. Warped: Any attempts to manipulate a human through mind control will cause the effects of the manipulation to reflect back on Jean-Claude himself.
• Can hypnotize entire groups of humans at once without needing to ingest their blood. Warped: Similarly, any attempts to hypnotize a group of humans through mind control will cause the effects to reflect back on Jean-Claude himself. He can't single any one person out of the crowd, and the more people there are, the more feedback there is from them.
• Can manipulate other supernatural beings with inferior magical power, if he has ingested their blood. For those with the same or slightly higher level of power, mind control is a struggle and may partly work but later be overcome e.g. attempting to compel witches. Warped: Any attempts to manipulate another supernatural being would reflect back upon himself. The added ingestion of their blood makes it more difficult for Jean-Claude to stop and pull free from his own manipulation.
• Can mind control lower-ranking vampires without needing to ingest their blood. Warped: Any attempts to manipulate the minds of other vampires will cause the effects to reflect back on Jean-Claude himself. It will take a lot of power to pull himself free from his own compulsion, leaving him physically drained until his next feeding.
• Can control the minds of animals, including shape-shifters in animal form but not including werewolves, without needing to ingest their blood. Warped: Any attempts to control the minds of animals or shape-shifters will reflect the effects back on Jean-Claude, and leave him with lingering characteristics of the animal
• Can enter a person's memories, either with permission or by force. (Requires physical contact.) Warped: May attempt to enter a person's memories, though sometimes this may result in sucking that person into his memories together with him instead.
• Can add, remove, or alter a person's memories through mind control. Warped: Any attempt to add, remove, or alter a person's memories will not be possible, and will result in either accidentally entering their memories or pulling them accidentally into his own.
• Can influence a person's dreams through mind control. Warped: Can enter another person's dreams through mind control. While there, it will not be clear to either party whose dream it is, though Jean-Claude will be able to have some influence on the setting.
• Can alter a person's perception through mind control e.g. make them perceive him as a loved one, or distract them with an illusory trick. Warped: Any attempt to alter a person's perception through mind control will result in giving both parties a terrible headache.
• Can mentally connect with a person they have shared blood with (i.e. both drink each other's blood), to show them visions, memories or communicate telepathically. This works with all species except ghosts. Warped: Can speak mind to mind with a person he has shared blood with, and will be able to share memories with them from a distance. However, until the blood wears off, it is difficult for both parties to tell at times whose memories are whose, whose thoughts are whose, the lines between each person bleeding together as it were.
• His blood can heal any injuries, if ingested by others. Warped: Any attempt to heal another person with his blood will only make the person's condition worse -- they are drinking the blood of a dead man after all.
• Can heal quickly from all injuries, except those inflicted by wood. Warped: Jean-Claude will find his healing suddenly happening much slower than usual. All injuries inflicted by wood, silver, or sun/UV light will heal even slower still.
• Can tell when someone is lying. Warped: Jean-Claude will have a difficult time implicitly telling whether a character is lying unless it's fairly obvious, and will for the most part need to judge this like everyone else does.
• Can sense emotions. Warped: If he concentrates, Jean-Claude can sense emotions of other characters. He has a difficult time pin-pointing whose emotions are whose at times, and often they begin to bleed over to him, such that he starts to suffer from the effects of their emotions as he senses them.
• Can turn humans, meta humans, shape-shifters and witches into vampires.
• Can control the body of his progeny, moving them like puppets. Warped: Much the same as attempting to control the minds of other vampires, any attempts to manipulate the minds of his progeny will cause the effects to reflect back on Jean-Claude himself. It will take a lot of power to pull himself free from his own compulsion, leaving him physically drained until his next feeding.